Cybercasts

Hello Everyone,

Well, our plans have changed again as the weather has not been great the last couple of days to be able to helicopter to Mera peak.  This is mountain climbing on the world’s highest peak and we have to be flexible.  Our team has been incredibly patient and flexible throughout this entire expedition and it is much appreciated to have a team that is willing to roll with the changes we need to make.  So tonight we will head up to Camp 1 on Everest to do our normal acclimatization rotation up to touching Camp 3 in the next several days.  The hope is by now there will be less people moving through the icefall up to Camp 1.  The plan will be to spend two nights at Camp 1, and 3 nights at Camp 2 before returning to Basecamp.

We are excited to be heading up tonight!  Thanks for following along,

Ben Jones

Hello Everyone,

Well, our plans have changed again as the weather has not been great the last couple of days to be able to Helicopter to Mera peak. This is mountain climbing on the World’s highest peak and we have to be flexible. Our team has been incredibly patient and flexible throughout this entire expedition and it is much appreciated to have a team that is willing to roll with the changes we need to make. So tonight we will head up to Camp 1 on Everest to do our normal acclimatization rotation up to touching Camp 3 in the next several days. The hope is by now there will be less people moving through the icefall up to Camp 1. The plan will be to spend two nights at Camp 1, and 3 nights at Camp 2 before returning to Basecamp.

We are excited to be heading up tonight! Thanks for following along,

Ben Jones

Hello Everyone,

The last few days since arriving back to EBC after our rotation on Lobuche we have been relaxing a little but have also gone on several hikes.  We went a little ways up into the Icefall two times for some practice and stretching our legs and lungs before heading out to Mera peak for our second rotation.  We also hiked across from Basecamp yesterday to a good view point near Pumori.  Today we are waiting for the sun to peak out so we can do showers in the tent.  It’s much nicer to take a shower in the shower tent when the sun is also heating the space inside.  It’s pretty cloudy today at Basecamp but the forecast is for it to begin clearing this afternoon and hopefully by tomorrow morning when we are planning to fly to Khare a village below Mera peak.  We are planning one night in a tea house and then will move up to high camp on Mera for one night, followed by 3 nights below the summit for our acclimatization.  With the route through the icefall closed later than normal I want to skip the crowds moving up to do rotations on the mountain as all teams have been waiting for the route to open.  It looks like progress is happening now fairly quickly as the fixing team has now fixed the lines up to camp 3.  Once we arrive back from Mera the hope is the lines have been fixed to the summit and other teams are beginning to summit.  Once back we will rest several days while looking at the weather and plans of other teams before making our plan for a summit attempt of Everest.  Our team is doing well and excited, (well mostly to squeeze a shower in today) but also for our acclimatization on Mera and then onto climbing Everest.

Thanks for following along,

Ben Jones

Each season our lead guide Ben brings his polaroid camera to Basecamp. Seeing the team’s headshots has become a tradition we look forward to each season. Here are some of the faces behind our Everest expedition!

Hello Everyone,

We are now settled back into basecamp after our successful first rotation of acclimatization on Lobuche East peak.  After showers and laundry and the great food prepared by our longtime cook Gopal it’s nice to be back “home” for several days enjoying the nice comforts of basecamp.

As the mountain seems like it will be very crowded for the next couple of weeks we are going to go to Mera peak for our final acclimatization rotation before being ready to head up for a summit push in late May.
So, for the next few days we will do a few activities around here and will head up into the first half of the Khumbu icefall tomorrow after breakfast and then start to get prepared for flying down valley to Mera.  We will spend about a week there and will camp for 3 nights near the altitude of C3 on Everest.  The team is doing well and excited to get heading to our next round of acclimatizing.

Thanks for following along,

Ben Jones